Do I need a fishing licence to fish Garden Island in the Port River?

No. South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence — you can fish the Garden Island jetty and boardwalk without paying for a permit. You are still bound by size, bag and boat limits and by any closures in place, so check the current rules on the PIRSA website or the free SA Fishing app before you head out, and note that Garden Island is inside the Barker Inlet - St Kilda Aquatic Reserve, where rod and handline are the only legal gear and crab nets are prohibited.

What can you catch at Garden Island jetty?

Black bream year-round, salmon trout (small Australian salmon) on the incoming tide from autumn to spring, and yelloweye mullet through summer and autumn. The wider Port River is one of South Australia's best estuaries for big mulloway, caught mostly at night around the bridges and channel — metre-plus fish are a real possibility. Flathead and silver trevally round out the warmer months.

What is the best tide for bream in the Port River?

The incoming tide, and the hour either side of high, is the standout. Rising water pushes bream up onto the flats and tight against the pylons, rock walls and mangrove edges where you can cast to them. Pair a moving tide with first or last light and you have the prime window; the bottom of a big run-out is usually the quietest part of the day.

Can you catch mulloway from the bank in the Port River?

Yes — the Port River is a land-based mulloway estuary, and most fish come from the banks, jetties and bridges after dark. Fish a running-sinker rig with a livebait, whole fresh mullet or a pilchard/mullet fillet, or work soft plastics and hardbodies under the bridge lights on a moving tide. November to May at night gives you the best odds.

Can you fish for snapper in the Port River?

No. Snapper is closed to all fishing — take and catch-and-release — across Gulf St Vincent, Spencer Gulf and the West Coast until 30 June 2027, and the Port River sits inside the Gulf St Vincent zone. Snapper remains open only in the South East Fishing Zone, east of the gulf boundary at the southern tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula. Targeting bream, mulloway and mullet keeps you well clear of the closure.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Port River (Garden Island)

Sat 05 Sep 2026 · Australia/Adelaide

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5 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 5 Sep

📍 Port River (Garden Island)

last quarter · 43%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 185° · 12 km/h Swell: 0.4 m @ 11 s SW Water: 15.2 °C Pressure: 1019.1 hPa → steady

★★★★☆

High Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 6:30 pm

Solunar Major window

Time of day Dusk

Tide Moving

Wind SE 13 km/h

Moon last quarter all day

Water temp 15.2 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:30 am → 8:00 am

2h 30m

First light

6:05 am

Last light

6:24 pm

Sunrise

6:29 am

Sunset

5:59 pm

Moonrise

1:49 am

Moonset

11:15 am

High tide

7:03 am

Low tide

1:45 pm

High tide

5:47 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☁️

13°

↘︎

135°

6 km/h

1am

☁️

13°

↘︎

150°

6 km/h

2am

☁️

12°

↓︎

166°

7 km/h

3am

☀️

13°

↓︎

176°

7 km/h

4am

☀️

13°

↓︎

184°

8 km/h

5am

☀️

13°

↓︎

191°

9 km/h

6am

☀️

14°

↓︎

197°

11 km/h

7am

☀️

15°

↓︎

200°

12 km/h

8am

☁️

15°

↓︎

202°

12 km/h

9am

☀️

16°

↓︎

202°

13 km/h

10am

☀️

16°

↓︎

198°

13 km/h

11am

☀️

17°

↓︎

193°

12 km/h

12pm

☀️

17°

↓︎

185°

12 km/h

1pm

☀️

17°

↓︎

176°

12 km/h

2pm

☀️

17°

↓︎

166°

11 km/h

3pm

☀️

17°

↘︎

157°

12 km/h

4pm

☀️

16°

↘︎

148°

12 km/h

5pm

☀️

15°

↘︎

139°

12 km/h

6pm

☀️

14°

↘︎

130°

13 km/h

7pm

☁️

13°

↘︎

123°

14 km/h

8pm

☁️

12°

↘︎

116°

15 km/h

9pm

☁️

11°

→︎

111°

15 km/h

10pm

☁️

11°

→︎

107°

16 km/h

11pm

☁️

11°

→︎

103°

16 km/h

Hourly Swell

Steady ~0.4 m SW

12am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

1am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

2am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

3am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

4am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

5am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

6am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

7am

0.5 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

8am

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

9am

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

10am

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

11am

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

12pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

1pm

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

2pm

0.4 m

@ 10 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

3pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

4pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

5pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

6pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

7pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

8pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

9pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

10pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

11pm

0.4 m

@ 11 s

↙︎

Calm

ground

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 15.2°

Wed

2 Sep

15.2°

Thu

3 Sep

15.2°

Fri

4 Sep

15.2°

Sat

5 Sep

15.2°

Sun

6 Sep

15.2°

Mon

7 Sep

—

Tue

8 Sep

—

Wed

9 Sep

—

Thu

10 Sep

—

Fri

11 Sep

—

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 12 km/h S (185°).

Wind map data: ECMWF HRES (operational), updated every 6 hours. Not for navigation.

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:30 pm → 8:00 pm

2h 30m

Good

5:30 am → 8:00 am

2h 30m

First light

6:05 am

Last light

6:24 pm

Sunrise

6:29 am

Sunset

5:59 pm

Moonrise

1:49 am

Moonset

11:15 am

High tide

7:03 am

Low tide

1:45 pm

High tide

5:47 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Black Bream
Mulloway (Jewfish)
Yelloweye Mullet
Australian Salmon
Flathead
Skipjack Trevally (Skippy)